Shower head



A. M. MOEN SHOWER HEAD 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 8, 1946 INVENTOR. 14L FEED M. MOE/v A. M. MOEN SHOWER HEAD Nov. 7, 1950 Filed July 8, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR. F/L H250 M. Ma /v the; spray head 25.

3 Seated against the upper surface of the spher- .ical head I1 is a sealing gasket 20 of fiber or (other suitable material, and threaded into the passage I and firmly against the gasket, is a retaining nut 2I which has a central passage 22 :for flow of water therethrough. The pipe I!) is threaded into the upper end of the. passage I5 (of the housing I2 and because of tapered threads, \will not contact nut 2|.

The connection as described and shown, proivides for flow of water from pipe ID, through passages 22 and directly into the pipe nipple I8. .The ball and socket joint permits limited direcxtional adjustment of the nipple to be made withjwater, and threaded onto and adjustable along the nipple, above these lateral openings 26, is a stop nut 28 for a purpose presently apparent. The spray head member 25 has a circular body portion with a cylindrically curved outer surface that is formed at regularly spaced circumferential intervals with longitudinal grooves 30, of V- shaped cross-section and which gradually vdecrease ,in area from their upper to their lower ends, as will be understood by reference to Figs. 3 and 4.

g In the present instance, I have shown the spray head as having twelve of such grooves 30,-but this number may be increased or decreased as desired or required.

Disposed coaxially of and about the nipple and spray head, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, is a tubular sleeve like member 32,-open at upper and lower ends and provided intermediate its ends with a partition wall 33 formed with a central opening '34 which closely contains the nipple therein, but

notwith interference to easy longitudinal movement of the sleeve. The lowerend portion of the sleeve fits closely about the spray head member 25 but also with freedom of movement, and the upper portion of the sleeve encloses the nut 28 therein and is formed,f'rom the partition wallto the upper edge, with longitudinal channels *3636, as :seen' in Fig. 4," in" which'lugs or radial arms "Bl-31 that are formed on the stop nut 28, are

slidably contained, thus to provide a connection between the sleeve and nut whereby the latter may be rotated to adjust it upwardly or downwardly on the nipple. I It is shown in Fig. 2 that in one position of the sleeve, which I will refer to as water testing position, it is supported by the seating of the partition wall 33 upon the upper end surface of Also, it is therein shown that when the sleeve is so supported, the partition wall thereof is below the level of the nipple outlets 2626 and therefore, when water is admitted to pipe I0, and to the nipple I8, it will be discharged from, the nipple outlets 2326 intov the upper end portion of the sleeve and from this,

'will be discharged into the upper end of the housing chamber I3 and will then be diverted downwardly from the relatively large chamber It in an easy downward flow, permitting the testing of the water for temperature without danger or discomfort to the user. By reference to Fig. 2,

itwill be understood that there is substantial clearance between the sleeve 32 and outer wall of the chamber I3 and no spraying or gushing effect of 'outfiowing water will be produced.

To change this outflow of water from an easy falling stream to a spray, it is only required that the sleeve 32 be manually lifted to an extent that its partition wall 33 will be above the level of the nipple outlets 26-26, whereupon the force of water, as discharged from the outlets 26 into the sleeve, will act against the wall 33 to lift and hold it against the stopnut 28. The discharge of waterfrom the sleevethen will be from its lower end and through the several channels 30 of the spray head member 25, and the character of the spray as then delivered, will be dependent upon the effective size of the outlets of the channels as provided by the relative position of the lower end of the sleeve and the spray head; it being understood'that the spray may be made finer or coarser by closing off more or less of the length of the channels, through the longitudinal adjustment of the sleeve. 1

While the spray is thus being discharged from the head, the sleeve will be held by the force of the water, 'at.its upper limit of adjustment, as determined by the instant setting of the stop nut I If it should be decided to produce a finer spray than that forany particular setting of the sleeve, the user merelyrotates the sleeve in a mannerwhereby the stop nut'will be threaded downwardly on the nipple. If a coarser spray is desired, the sleeve'is turned in the direction that causes the stop nut to be moved-upwardly on the nipple it being understood that the arm and slot connection between the sleeve and nut shown in Fig. 4, provides for this adjustment of the nut merely by the manual rotation of the sleeve, and

that the extent to which the spray head channels will be uncovered is controlled or determined b'y'the position of the nut on the-nipple.

.An important featureofthis construction is th-atwheneven-th'e water pressure to pipe I0 is turned off, the sustaining pressure to the sleeve is removed and thesleeve 32 will drop on the nipple to therelative position of Fig. 2. Therefore,

when water. is again turned. on, it will emerge from'the chamber -I3 in a gentle downward flow and not from the head as a spray. This is the insurance to the user against injury or discomfortfron a, too hot or too'cold water spray.

To facilitate the: easy rotation of the sleeve 32 for changing the character of the spray as dis- ,char ged fromlthe spray head, the sleeve 32 is roughened or'knurled about-its lower end portion, as has been shown at 32$ in Fig. 1. Also, it is shown in Fig. 1 that when the water is turned off or while being tested, a substantial portion of 1 the sleeve will be exposed below the housing I2 and thus it is easily accessible for this adjustment. Also, the knurled portion of sleeve 32 is designed to be accessible while the spray is flowing, thereby permitting .theuser to adjust the spray without having to reach into the spray to do so. The sleeve 32 isv clearly visible and in event of itsfailure to drop, it would be noticed by the user;

The ball and socket mounting of the nipple I8 permits a certain range of directional adjustment of thespray head shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, that is desirable.

In the alternative form of device shown in Figs.

6 to 9, the water supply pipe Illis threaded into a housing or bell, I2a similar-to the housing I2 of the device-of Fig. 1, but formed interiorly about the lower end of the skirt portion with an inwardly and upwardly turned flange IZa: that further breaks up the force of any outflow of water directly from the housing chamber l4rr. Furthermore, in this device, a nipple la is mounted in the housing in the same manner as is the nipple 18 shown in Fig. 2 and this has a closedlower end onto which a spray nut 45 is threaded for limited adjustment in the longitudinal direction of the nipple.

The spray nut 45 has a cylindrical body 45a,

shown best in Fig. 9, and a reduced downwardly extending shank 45b that is knurled for a be ter turning grip thereon. The cylindrical surface of the body 45a is formed with longitudinal, downwardly tapered slots a like the slots 30 in the spray head 25 of the device of Fig. 3.

' The nipple l8a has a downwardly facing annular shoulder 46 near its ball end and below this are lateral outlets 46a from the nipple passage for the discharge of water.

Surrounding the nipple and nut is a sleeve 32a and this is open at upper and lower ends and is formed within its upper end portion with a dividing partition wall 33a provided with a central opening through which the nipple freely extends. The sleeve is limited in its upward movement relative to the nipple by the wall 33a engaging against the nipple shoulder 46 and it is limited in its downward movement on the nipple by the wall 33a seating against the upper end of the adjustable nut 45. The manner of supporting the sleeve permits it to be manually lifted from the lower, or testing position to the full line position at which water delivered from the nipple outlets 46a will bedischarged as spray from the spray head channels.

When water pressure is cut off, the sleeve will drop to its lower limit. Then, when again turned on, it will be discharged from the upper end of the sleeve into the bell chamber, then deflected downward and again its flow broken up by contact with the flange l2x.

The change in character of the spray in this device is made by turning the nut 45 to adjust it upwardly or downwardly relative to the position of the lower endof the sleeve when the sleeve is in its lifted position.

To prevent unthreading of the nut 45 completely from the nipple, a screw bolt Ellis extended downwardly and through a hole formed in the closed lower end portion of the nipple and is fixed in the nut. The head of the screw limits the downward adjustment of the nut to prevent disconnection.

The device shown in Fig. 10 is like that of Fig. 7

7 except that the nut 45 is not equipped with the bolt 50.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A shower head comprising a vertically directed pipe element formed with a lateral port through which water supplied to the pipe element under pressure may be discharged, a sleeve, open at its ends, slidably mounted about the said pipe element, across the said lateral port and providing a water discharge passage between them, an annular wall formed within the sleeve intermediate its ends and substantially closing off the water discharge passage at that location,

a lower stop on the pipe element for limiting the downward movement of the sleeve at a position at which the said annular wall will be below the discharge port and water from the port will be 6 diverted to and discharged from the upper end of the sleeve, and upper stop on the pipe element for limiting the upward movement of the sleeve at a position at which the said annular wall will be above the said discharge port and water from the port will be diverted to and discharged from lower end of the sleeve; and means fixed on the pipe element and coacting with the lower end portion of the sleeve to convert water that is discharged at that end into spray; said sleeve being adapted to be manually lifted from its lower to its upper limit and 'then to be held at its upper limit by pressure of water against the under side of said annular wall therein, and to drop by gravity when water pressure is discontinued.

2. A shower headcomprising a vertically directed pipe element formed with a lateral port through which water supplied to the pipe element under pressure may be discharged, a sleeve open at its ends, slidably mounted about the pipe elements, across the said lateral port and providing a water discharge passage between them, an annular wall formed within the sleeve intermediate its ends and substantially closing oil the water discharge passage at that location, a spray head applied about the lower end of said pipe element, and serving as a stop for limiting the downward movement of the sleeve at a position at which the said annular Wall will be below the said discharge port and water from the latter will be diverted to and discharged from the upper end of the sleeve, an upper stop on the pipe element against which the sleeve may be manually lifted and whereby its upward movement will be limited at a position at which the said annular wall will be above the said lateral port and water from the port will act thereagainst to hold the sleeve in lifted position and will be diverted to and discharged from the lower end of the sleeve and converted into spray by said spray head.

3. A shower head as recited in claim 2 wherein thesaid upper stop is adjustable along the pipe element to permit upward movement of the sleeve r to more .or less extent, and said spray head is formed with spray producing channels that may be uncovered by the sleeve when in its upper limit, to more or less extend in accordance with the adjustment of said upper stop.

4. A shower head as recited in claim 1 wherein the upper stop comprises a nut that is threaded on the said pipe element for adjustment therealong and wherein the said sleeve is formed with a longitudinal keyway receiving a portion of the nut therein, providing for rotatable adjustment of the nut through the mediacy of the sleeve.

ALFRED M. MOEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Feb. 21, 1902 

